Stopper.



C. A. IORNS.

STOPPER.

APPLlcAloN FILED Nov. 26. 1915.

1 ,203,349 l Patente Oct. 31, 1916. l

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

C. A. IORNS.

STOPPER.

APPucATloN FILED Nov.26. 191s.

1,203,349. Patented 001. 31,1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- CHESTERA. IORNS, OF ST; LOUIS, MISSOURI.

srorrnn..

Specification of Letters Batent.,

Patented Olot. 31,1916;

Application, led November 26,1915, Serial No. 63,610.v

To -all'whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, CHESTER A. loans, a citizen of the United States, residingat the city` of St.- Louis, in the- Stateof Missouri, have inventedA certain new and usefulL Improvements instoppersofuwhichi the following Aisa specification. f

This invention yrelates to Stoppers for bottles and the like and,;more particularly', to Stoppersv adapted to formA a fluid tight closure for the opening or mouth of receptacles `or the like in association with which it maybeapplied. v

It has for itsobject toiprovide a closure of the character described of cheap and simple construction `which may be- Vreadily applied in association withthe decantingr or otheropeningsbf receptacles andthe like whereby said openings .may be'quickly, conveniently, simply and effectively` closed and sealed, and, when so closed and! sealed', may with likel facility and conveniencebeunsealed and opened.

Another-object is to provide a'closure of the character" described havingf resilient mean s'- adapted to bedistended--laterally-,under pressure to formA substantiallyfluid tightjointswith adjacent lateral walls inan opening on whichA the deviceis applied. l

Another object isto provide a closure ofthe character described` having a tapping outlet wherethrough the contents ofa re? cepta cle may be dischargedV without` remov ing the -closureof this inventionn from ythe opening .of the receptacle-or the like.

Further this-invention-consists of the construction, arrangement, and combination of partshereinafter more particularly described and-pointed-out in the claims.`

The closure heretofore usually provided forza rubber water bottle, for instance, comprises a screw-threaded casing open at both. ends and mounted in the neck'of said'. bottle anda screw-threaded plug havinga resilient washer at its inner endi adapted to seat ona flangeI borneby saidf vcasing when saidplugisscrewed home inY said casing;` Thisy character' of closure requires that Vthe plug-berevolved onits; aXisa number ofti'niesin4 screwing; sameto closing, andV sealing position Orrin unscrewlng--sameto openp'osltion, eachl.of#whichoperatronsrequiresfaxrelatively' long time, and,rmoreover, thenscrewfthread's ofboth the casing vand the plug being er'- posed whenthe plug has beenremoved. saine are liable to loe damaged and `'the closure rendereduseless as an effective device..

An advantagek ofthe closure embodying the present invention is that the plug thereof may beappliedin closing andv sealing posi.- tion or removed'from said position, bya simple twisting movementwhereby the adjusting finger piece'of said plugA is caused to turn only aboutvr one quarter/cfa turn on its axis, and, moreover the exposed screwtlireads of the device heretofore employed are avoided thus providing aA more durable closure requiring less time yandcare in operation. Furtherthe plug of the closure embodyingv the present invention may, if de-V sired, be applied in connection with the screw-threaded casing of the closure heretofore mounted on water bottles, andthe damaging'ofsaid screw-threads will not in anyway affect the effective operation of the plug o-f the closure of this invention, said screwstlireads being superfluous for the purposes of this invention but notV interfering therewith. V

In the accompanying.' drawings forming part* of this specification. whereinvlike num loersV of reference denote like parts ywhere-V ever theyoccur, lFigure l is a fragmentary view of an ordinary water bottle, the neck portion,thereof-beingzshown in crosssection witha closureembodying the present inven-V ti'onf applied thereon inl closing and Vsealing position, the plug of said` closure being shown in plan elevation and theVV casing mounted in the'neclr of the bottle vbeing shown inl cross-section; `Fig. 2 isa cross-seoV tional view on'V an enlarged scale ofthe plug andd casing of the closure of this Vinvention Y removed.v from association with' theV opening of'a receptacle orthe like and shows the detailsof" construction ofthe device, the plug being in unsealedposition; Fig.. 3 shows the resilient means of the plugin laterally distendedand sealing position under pressure applied-Y by c manipulating the linger piece.; Fig. Alis a Viewf partly inplan and partly in section showing a fragment of a pneumatic tire with@y the usualfvalve controlledlchargff closure embodying the present invention as applied as a closure for the end of said stem; and Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a modied form of the closure embodying the present invention applied to a bottle as a tap plug for the contents thereof.

A hollow casing 1 lopen at both ends and bearing an inwardly turned flange 2 at one end may be provided with an outwardly turned flange 3 borne by the other end of the casing, said casing being' adapted to fit snugly in the necl of a water bottle 4, or of any other bottle, such for instance as the neck of a champagne bottle l5 y(Fig. 5), or in the opening of any other receptacle, with the inwardly turned flanged portion 2 depending in the bottle or other receptacle, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5 and with the outwardly turned flange engaging a shoulder 6 of water bottle 4 or engaging the outer edge of the mouth of the bottle 5 as illustrated in the one case in Fig. 4 and in the other in Fig. 5, and, if desired, said casing may be secured in position by anyk suitable means such, for instance, as by means of being cemented to the adjacent sides of the neck of bottle 4 or Vbottle 5. When the closure embodying the present invention is used in connectionwith the valve-controlled charging tube 7 (Fig. 4) of' a pneumatic tire 8, inwardly turned flange 2 may be mounted on and secured to outwardly turned flange 9 borne by the end of tube 7 andthe outwardly turned flange 8 may be omitted the edge ofthe end from which said flange Y has been omitted being if desired, flared slightly as shown at 10 in Fig. 4.

The plug or stopper of the closure of this invention comprises a pair of plates 11 and 12 with a pair of resilient members 13 and 14 borne therebetween, said plates and said resilient members being mounted on a stem 15, said stem being adapted to extend through said plates and said members and bearing another resilient member 16 beyond plate12, the other end of said stem having a screw-threaded portion 17 adapted to eX- tend outwardly beyond plate 11, on which screw-threaded portion, a screw-threaded nut or block 18 is operatively mounted, a rivet head 19 or the like borne by the outwardly protruding end of stem 15 being adapted to prevent said nut or block from slipping off of or being removed from said stem and becoming lost yor misplaced in use, and for the sake of compactness of construction the end of the screwthreaded opening of said nut or block adjacent said rivet head 19 or the like may be countersunk as best seen at 20 in Fig. 3. Plate 1l which is adjacent to nut or block 18 is loosely mounted on stem 15 and may be formed integrally with said nut or block, but is preferably made separately therefrom, as shown in the drawings and bestsee'n in Fig.-2.. The other plate 12 may be rigidly mounted on said stem and may be supported by flange 21 borne by stem 15, which flange may be formed integrally with said plate 12 or separately therefrom, or, if desired, plate 12 may itself be a flange borne by said stem, in which case flange 21 may be omitted. Resilient member 16 mounted on stem 15 below plate 12 may be supported in position between said flange 21 and a second flange 22 borne by the adjacent end of stem 15 Vas shown in the drawings. The edges of the pair of adjacent resilient members 13 and 14 may be oppositely beveled, as shown in Fig. 2, and the outer edge ofresilient member 16 maybe beveled as, also, shown in said Fig.- 2, said resilient members being made of any suitable material, such, for instance, as rubber and being of such dimensions as to permit them to be readily inserted into casing 1 in the position and the relation of parts shown in Fig. 2 with resilient member 16 resting upon flange 2 of said casing. Nut or block 18 maybe provided with any suitable grasping or manipulating means, such, for instance, as ring23 (Figs.`1 to 4, inclusive) or butterfly linger pieces 24, Fig. 5.

In operation, casing 1 having been mounted in the opening of a receptacle in'any suitable manner, such, for instance, as in the manner in which said casing is shownin the drawings to be mounted in the neck` of bottle4, bottle 5, or on the end of pneumatic tire charging tube 7, the plug of the Vclosure of this invention may be inserted into said casing in the position shown in Fig. 2 and,

by grasping ring 23 or butterfly finger pieces or butterfly'l'inger pieces 24, block or nut y18 will be caused to move along the screwthreaded portion 17 of stem 15, and plate 11 being loosely mounted on. said stem` will be pushed 'or pressed toward plate 12 as said block or nut engages said plate'll, whereby the pair of resilient members 13 and 14 Awill be compressed between said plates and will distend laterally as shownfin Fig. 3, thus causing the edges of said pair of resilient members to form substantially fluid tight joints with the adjacent lateral wall of said casing, and, also, the portions of said resilient members adjacent stem 15 will be distended laterally against said'stem so that no fluid can pass thejoints formed by the closure of this' invention when the plugy thereof is in closing and sealing position just described. 'Moreover, theplug' will be very firmly held in'said sealing position by block or nut 18 m'oved to an appropriate position therefor on the screw-threaded portion of stem 15.

In practice it has been found that about a quarter of a turn of nut or block 18 will cause the plug of this invention to assume the sealing position shown in Figs. 1, 3, 4, and, the unsealing of said plug being accomplished by causing said nut or block to turn about a quarter of a turn in the reverse direction.

A suitable construction to adapt the plug of the closure of this invention as a tap plug is shown in Fig. 5, wherein the solid stem 15 shown in Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, has been omitted and tube 25 substituted therefor, said tube bearing flanges 21 and 22 adjacent its inner end and being provided with screw-threaded portion 26 on its outer end, plates 11 and 12 with resilient members 13 and 14 therebetween, resilient members 16, and nut or block 18 being mounted on tube 25 in a manner similar to that in which said parts are mounted on stem 15, as shown in the drawings. A faucet 27 or the like may be attached to the end of the screwthreaded portion of said tube, as shown in Fig. 5, through which faucet the flow of the contents of bottle 5 through tube 25 may be controlled. The operation of inserting the tap plug shown in Fig. 5 to sealing position and removing same from that position is similar to the operation of inserting the solid stem plug, shown in Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, to and removing same from sealing position and has been hereinabove described. A closure embodying this invention provided with a tap plug, as shown in Fig. 5, and used in connection with a faucet 27 or the like may be applied with great advantage in connection with a champagne hott-le, when it is desired to draw only a portion of the champagne fromthe bottle at greater or less intervals apart and preserve the portion remaining in the bottle in eifervescent condition. In such cases, the cork of the bottle having been drawn, a closure embodying this invention and shown in said Fig. 5 may be arranged in position in association with the neck of said bottle, as shown in said Fig. 5, and the contents of the bottle drawn olf through faucet 27 in such quantities and at such intervals as it is desired to use same. The tubular stem tap plug shown in Fig. 5 may, also, be used to great advantage in connection with water bottle 4 when said bottle is used as part of the well known fountain syringe, in which case an end of the flexible tube of said syringe may be attached to the 4discharge end of faucet 27, or, if desired, said faucet may be omitted and said end of said flexible tube may be attached directly to the discharge end of tubular stem 25.

An advantage of applying the closure of this invention to the charging tube of a j control mounted in said charging tube become inoperative and leak. In the drawings, a pair of resilient Vmembers 14 and 13 are shown mounted between plates 11 and 12, but it is, of course, understood that there may be more than two of such resilient' members so mounted or that there may, if desired be only one resilient member of a suitable thickness and material mounted between said plates.

Various changes in the construction, arrangement, and combination of parts may be made without departing from the nature and spirit of the present invention.

I claim: i

1. Av stopper comprising a casing and a removable plug, said plug comprising a stem, a resilient member rigidly connected to the lower end of the stem and adapted to engage the lower end of said casing, a plate loosely mounted upon said stem and held in spaced relation with said resilient member, a pair of resilient members mounted upon said plate, and means for applying pressure to said resilient members for distending the same laterally for the purpose set forth.

2. A stopper comprising a cylindrical casing and a removable plug adapted to rest therein, said plug comprising a stem, a pair of truncated conical-shaped members loosely mounted upon said stem, the bases of said truncated conical-shaped members lying adjacent to each other, and means adapted to distend said truncated conical-shaped members laterally whereby the lateral surfaces of their base portions will be seated against the inner wall of said casing.

3. A stopper comprising a casing and a removable plug, said plug comprising a stem, a resilient member rigidly connected to the lower end of the stem and adapted to engage the lower end of said casing, a plate borne by said stem and in spaced relation with said resilient member, resilient means loosely mounted on said stem adjacent to said plate, and means for applying pressure to said resilient means for distending the same .laterally for the purpose set forth.

4. A stopper comprising a casing and a removable plug, said plug comprising a stem, a resilient member rigidly connected to the lower end of the stem and adapted to engage the lower end of said casing, a plate rigidly borne by said stem in spaced relation with said resilient member, a second plate loosely mounted on said stem opposite said rigidly-mounted plate, resilient means mounted on said stem between said two plates, and means for applying pressure to said resilient means for distending the same laterally for the purpose setforth.

5. .A stopper comprising a easing and a removable plug, said plug comprising a stem, a resilient member rigidly connected to the lower end' of the stem and adapted to 5 'engage the lower end of said casing, a plate borne by said stem in spaced relation with said resilient member, resilient means loosely mounted on said stem adjacent to said plate,

and means for applying pressure `for dis- -tending said resilient means laterally and le signature.

CHESTER A. IORNS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C, 

